SEC delays decision on Grayscale's proposed spot ether ETF into the new year

The Securities and Exchange Commission is delaying a decision on whether to approve or disapprove the Grayscale Ethereum Trust's spot exchange-traded fund. 

The SEC said it was extending its timeline for a decision on the proposed fund by 45 days to Jan. 25, according to a filing on Tuesday. 

"The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised therein," the SEC said.

"As expected @Grayscale's Ethereum trust filing just got delayed," Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart wrote on X. "It was due by 12/6/23 so this is completely normal."

Recent delays

The SEC also recently delayed a decision on the proposed Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF, which plans to hold both spot ether and futures contracts. Other firms are also looking to launch a spot ether ETF, including BlackRock, if they get regulatory approval. 

Grayscale Investments filed a Form 19b-4 to convert its Grayscale Ethereum Trust to a spot ETF in October. That trust was launched in March 2019 and voluntarily became an SEC reporting company in October 2020.

It is currently the largest ETH investment vehicle in the world, with assets under management of nearly $5 billion, representing 2.5% of all ETH in circulation.

Grayscale and others have also been looking for the SEC's approval for what would be the first spot bitcoin ETF in the U.S. The regulator has yet to approve a spot ether or bitcoin fund, and it's so far delayed decisions on all the applications it's received.

BlackRock and Bitwise both filed amendments to S-1 filings for their spot bitcoin proposals with the SEC on Monday. Also on Tuesday, the SEC acknowledged the receipt of Nasdaq's 19b-4 filing for BlackRock's spot ether ETF application. 

Updated at 4:10 p.m. ET to include details on Nasdaq's 19b-4 filing for BlackRock's spot ether ETF proposal